Loss of institute will leave a void

The departure of the Institute of Texan Cultures, which hosted the Texas Folklife Festival for almost 50 years, would be a huge loss for San Antonio.

The departure of the Institute of Texan Cultures, which hosted the...

It is with great dismay that I contemplate the possible demise of the Institute of Texas Culture. Ever since HemisFair ’68, this has been one of the greatest icons in Texas. The institute celebrates our diversity in a positive way that is not found anywhere else within our borders. The original organizers of the museum were visionaries who, perhaps because of the civil rights movement, saw reason to celebrate who we are and where we came from in this state.

As appreciation of this icon grew through the years, we began to celebrate the Folklife Festival. The festival has become one of the well-attended events in the city. The celebration of various ethnic groups, with the diverse foods, costumes, music and history of how things were done early on in different communities, was entertaining as well as educational.

It is so sad that the tearing down of the building due to needed repairs can even be proposed when we see racism and hatred on the rise. The institute shows what a wonderful tapestry has been woven from our coming together as a people we call Texans.

Opinion

Surely, we cannot let the planners who are redeveloping Hemisfair draw up plans that tear down the building. We do not need another hotel or parking lot to replace the institute; rather we need a grass-roots movement to save it.

Without the reporting of your daily newspaper, the destruction of this building would go unnoticed. Please give it more coverage for, as you reported, there are no plans in place to store all the content of the museum nor a place to continue our Folklife Festival.

Help us organize to save this important part of our history. With the right exposure, money could be raised to repair the building and give the curator enough funds to update and attract special events and shows, along with the necessary advertising for each one. Don’t let us experience a tragedy like New York City did when it tore down Penn Station.

Katherine Hess stood in the schoolyard with other Providence students watching the raising of the restaurant at the Tower of the Americas in 1968. Later, she sold beer and popcorn at Laterna Magica theater at the fair. She is a retired schoolteacher who taught in many San Antonio schools. In recent years, she has worked to promote social justice through community education.